Equifax Wants More Info By October 15 Before It'll Pay Cash Claims

People impacted by the Equifax security breach in 2017 who have requested cash, not credit monitoring, as part of the company's settlement have until October 15 to provide additional information. The data breach settlement website now asks individuals who requested a cash payment to submit proof that they already have a credit monitoring service. Failing to provide this information will result in the claim being denied.READ: You won't get $125 from Equifax

In 2017, credit bureau Equifax disclosed a massive data breach that impacted 147 million people. As part of its settlement with the FTC, impacted consumers can sign up to receive free extensive credit monitoring for four years or to receive a cash payment of $125 USD. The latter option is intended for people who already have credit monitoring who aren't interested in getting the monitoring service offered by the settlement.

In late July, the FTC published a statement warning that many people were requesting the cash payout and that as a result, the total value of each individual payment would likely be substantially smaller than $125.

The agency presented the free credit monitoring option as a better alternative over the cash payment, pointing out that the monitoring option has a total value that eclipses $125. Now, as of September 9, the Equifax data breach claim site warns that consumers have until October 15 to provide the name of the credit monitoring service they already have — assuming they requested the cash payment.

The credit monitoring service needs to be the one that consumer had when they filed their claim. Alternatively, consumers are told to amend their claim to request the free credit monitoring as an alternative to the cash. As well, the website the points toward the FTC's July warning, noting that the greater the number of cash claims, the lower the cash payment may be as a result.